Contact Information

Research Interests: evaluation of adverse selection in insurance markets due to genetic testing, merit-rating systems in automobile insurance, the impact of firearm deaths on life expectancies in the united states

Jean Lemaire is the Harry J. Loman Professor of Insurance and Risk Management at the Wharton School. He holds a BS in mathematics, a MS in actuarial science, and a Ph.D. in applied mathematics, all obtained at the Free University of Brussels. He joined the Wharton School in 1987 as Director of the Actuarial Science Program.

Jean Lemaire has published over 100 research papers and books in game theory and actuarial science. He has lectured on insurance regulation and actuarial science in over 60 countries. His 1985 book "Automobile Insurance: Actuarial Models" was the insurance book-of-the-year both in Europe and in the US. His books have been translated in French, Spanish, Mandarin, Russian, Japanese, and Korean.

Jean Lemaire is a winner of the 1988 International Prize of the Italian Academy of Science, the most important prize awarded to insurance researchers in terms of amount and prestige. In 2008 he was elected Honorary Chairman of ASTIN, the non-life section of the International Actuarial Association, and received the Wharton School’s Hauck Award for excellence in teaching. His current research interests include the study of merit-rating systems in automobile insurance, the impact of genetic testing on insurance, and the consequences of gun violence.

Abstract: This paper contributes to a better understanding of the risks involved in a life annuity investment. We study the full distribution of weighted annuity benefits and quantify risk measures such as dispersion and skewness, thereby extending the usefulness of the popular money’s worth valuation framework for life annuities. Using data from pension annuities in Singapore, we also introduce several risk measures that might appeal to less financially sophisticated retirees. A more detailed and accurate picture of the risk of investing in life annuities emerges, enabling prospective annuitants to differentiate among products that may appear seemingly uniform in terms of money’s worth, but vary widely in terms of their risk attributes.

Teaching

Past Courses

BEPP451 - FUND OF ACT SCI I

BEPP452 - FUND OF ACTUARIAL SCI II

This course is the usual entry point in the actuarial science program. It is required for students who plan to concentrate or minor in actuarial science. It can also be taken by others interested in the mathematics of personal finance and the use of mortality tables. For future actuaries, it provides the necessary knowledge of compound interest and its applications, and basic life contingencies definition to be used throughout their studies. Non-actuaries will be introduced to practical applications of finance mathematics, such as loan amortization and bond pricing, and premium calculaton of typical life insurance contracts. Main topics include annuities, loans and bonds; basic principles of life contingencies and determinaton of annuity and insurance benefits and premiums.

BEPP453 - ACTUARIAL STATISTICS

BEPP454 - APPL STAT METHD FOR ACTU

One half of the course is devoted to the study of time series, including ARIMA modeling and forecasting. The other half studies modificatons in random variables due to deductibles, co-payments, policy limits, and elements of simulaton. This course is a possible entry point into the actuarial science program. No INSR course is a pre-requisite for INSR 854. The Society of Actuaries has approved INSR 854 for VEE credit on the topic of time series.

BEPP851 - FUND OF ACT SCI I

BEPP852 - FUND OF ACTUARIAL SCI II

This specialized course is usually only taken by Wharton students who plan to concentrate in actuarial science and Penn students who plan to minor in actuarial science mathematics. It provides a comprehensive analysis of advanced life contingencies problems such as reserving, multiple life functions, multiple decrement theory with applicaton to the valuation of pension plans.

BEPP853 - ACTUARIAL STATISTICS

This course covers models for insurer's losses, and applications of Markov chains. Poisson processes, including extensions such as non-homogenous, compound, and mixed Poisson processes are studied in detail. The compound model is then used to establish the distribution of losses. An extensive section on Markov chains provides the theory to forecast future states of the process, as well as numerous applications of Markov chains to insurance, finance and genetics. The course is abundantly illustrated by examples from the insurance and finance literature. While most of the students takinig the course are future actuaries, other students interested in applications of statistics may discover in class many fascinating applications of stochastic processes and Markov chains.

BEPP854 - APPL STAT METHD FOR ACTU

One half of the course is devoted to the study of time series, including ARIMA modeling and forecasting. The other half studies modificatons in random variables due to deductibles, co-payments, policy limits, and elements of simulation. This course is a possibly entry point into the actuarial science program. No INSR course is a pre-requisite for INSR 854. The Society of Actuaries has approved INSR 854 for VEE credit on the topic of time series.

STAT451 - FUND OF ACTUARIAL SCI I

This course is the usual entry point in the actuarial science program. It is required for students who plan to concentrate or minor in actuarial science. It can also be taken by others interested in the mathematics of personal finance and the use of mortality tables. For future actuaries, it provides the necessary knowledge of compound interest and its applications, and basic life contingencies definition to be used throughout their studies. Non-actuaries will be introduced to practical applications of finance mathematics, such as loan amortization and bond pricing, and premium calculation of typical life insurance contracts. Main topics include annuities, loans and bonds; basic principles of life contingencies and determination of annuity and insurance benefits and premiums.

STAT452 - FUND OF ACTUARIAL SCI II

This specialized course is usually only taken by Wharton students who plan to concentrate in actuarial science and Penn students who plan to minor in actuarial mathematics. It provides a comprehensive analysis of advanced life contingencies problems such as reserving, multiple life functions, multiple decrement theory with application to the valuation of pension plans.

STAT453 - ACTUARIAL STATISTICS

This course covers models for insurer's losses, and applications of Markov chains. Poisson processes, including extensions such as non-homogeneous, compound, and mixed Poisson processes are studied in detail. The compound model is then used to establish the distribution of losses. An extensive section on Markov chains provides the theory to forecast future states of the process, as well as numerous applications of Markov chains to insurance, finance, and genetics. The course is abundantly illustrated by examples from the insurance and finance literature. While most of the students taking the course are future actuaries, other students interested in applications of statistics may discover in class many fascinating applications of stochastic processes and Markov chains.

STAT454 - APPL STAT METHD FOR ACTU

One half of the course is devoted to the study of time series, including ARIMA modeling and forecasting. The other half studies modifications in random variables due to deductibles, co-payments, policy limits, and elements of simulation. This course is a possible entry point into the actuarial science program. The Society of Actuaries has approved STAT 854 for VEE credit on the topic of time series.

STAT851 - FUND OF ACTUARIAL SCI I

This course is the usual entry point in the actuarial science program. It is required for students who plan to concentrate or minor in actuarial science. It can also be taken by others interested in the mathematics of personal finance and the use of mortality tables. For future actuaries, it provides the necessary knowledge of compound interest and its applications, and basic life contingencies definition to be used throughout their studies. Non-actuaries will be introduced to practical applications of finance mathematics, such as loan amortization and bond pricing, and premium calculation of typical life insurance contracts. Main topics include annuities,loans and bonds; basic principles of life contingencies and determination of annuity and insurance benefits and premiums.

STAT852 - FUND OF ACTUARIAL SCI II

This specialized course is usually only taken by Wharton students who plan to concentrate in actuarial science and Penn students who plan to minor in actuarial mathematics. It provides a comprehensive analysis of advanced life contingencies problems such as reserving, multiple life functions, multiple decrement theory with application to the valuation of pension plans.

STAT853 - ACTUARIAL STATISTICS

This course covers models for insurer's losses, and applications of Markov chains. Poisson processes, including extensions such as non-homogeneous, compound, and mixed Poissonprocesses are studied in detail. The compound model is then used to establish the distribution of losses. An extensive section on Markov chains provides the theory to forecast future states of the process, as well as numerous applications of Markov chains to insurance, finance, and genetics. The course is abundantly illustrated by examples from the insurance and finance literature. While most of the students taking the course are future actuaries, other students interested in applications of statistics may discover in class many fascinating applications of stochastic processes and Markov chains.

STAT854 - APPL STAT METHD FOR ACTU

One half of the course is devoted to the study of time series, including ARIMA modeling and forecasting. The other half studies modifications in random variables due to deductibles, co-payments, policy limits, and elements of simulation. This course is a possible entry point into the actuarial science program. The Society of Actuaries has approved STAT 854 for VEE credit on the topic of time series.

Awards and
Honors

Wharton Undergraduate Excellence in Teaching Award, 2012

Wharton Undergraduate Excellence in Teaching Award, 2011

Wharton Undergraduate Excellence in Teaching Award, 2008

Wharton Hauck Award for Excellence in Teaching by a Tenured Faculty Member, 2008